Jeff Suppan Was Not the Opening Day Villain

The Brewers had a rough Opening Day yesterday. A 10-6 loss to a team that they dominated last season is not exactly the best way to start the 2009 season.

Many fans and pundits are already blaming Suppan and ready to ship him out of town. It is easy to blame Suppan, especially with so many people still bitter from his playoff performance last year and the $12.5 million due to him this season.

Suppan allowed six runs on six hits in only four innings yesterday, including a towering home run to Aaron Rowand. Suppan did have a rough outing yesterday, but he is not the true villain that held the Brewers back yesterday.

No Brewers pitcher could get anyone out yesterday. While Suppan does need to pitch better than he did yesterday, I won't get too concerned until it starts becoming a pattern this year.

It's a new year and last year means nothing right now. Seth McClung, Dave Bush, and Jorge Julio all need to pitch better than they did yesterday.

JJ Hardy and Jason Kendall should be the ones drawing anger from Brewers' fans today. The duo went a combined 0-for-10, with three strikeouts and 12 runners left on base.

Hardy was moved to the five-hole and looked totally lost at the plate. It would be helpful if he could learn how to hit an off-speed pitch sometime soon. I am already wondering how long before Hardy protests his current spot in the order and lobbies to be moved back to the two-hole.

Kendall has made it clear that his .246 batting average from last year is sub par and not a true show of his work at the plate. His poor performance yesterday is closer to last year's standard than what Kendall wants to show everyone. He is a former .300 hitter, but it appears those days are long gone.

All is not lost for the Brewers. It is only one game and they face a lefty tonight which they hit notoriously well against, although that lefty is a future Hall of Fame member in Randy Johnson.

Yovani Gallardo will take the mound for the Brewers tonight as he will look to start living up to all the spring training hype that surrounded him.